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answering dept short name

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

min answer › date of answer

2014-04-14

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<p>We share many of the concerns that United to End Genocide raise in their recent
report on the plight of the Rohingya. We continue to press the Burmese government
to find a long term solution to bring peace and reconciliation to the communities
in Rakhine State. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right
hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), summoned the Burmese Ambassador
on 7 April and called on the Burmese government urgently to restore humanitarian access
to all communities in need, and to ensure the security of humanitarian aid workers
and all communities in Rakhine State. Mr Swire raised our wider concerns about the
situation in Rakhine State with senior Burmese Ministers during his visit in January.
I personally discussed the situation with Minister of National Planning and Economic
Development, Dr Kan Zaw, during his visit to the UK in March.</p><p>We remain in close
contact with Médecins Sans Frontières and have made clear to the Burmese government
their responsibility to ensure services are adequately delivered. We continue to maintain
that allegations of human rights abuses must be dealt with immediately through a clear
and transparent investigative and prosecutorial process that meets international standards.</p>

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement on
19 March by the President of Turkey that the internal peace process should be completed,
by giving democratic rights and equal citizenship to the Kurdish people together with
freedom for the press and other media.

<p>We welcome the comments made by President Gül regarding the Kurdish population
in Turkey, which we assess as an important reaffirmation of the Turkish government's
commitment to finding a sustainable solution to the Kurdish issue.</p><p>We have been
encouraged by the efforts on both sides to reach a solution and welcome the continuing
ceasefire, as well as the President Gül's approval of the democratisation package
in March.</p>

<p>The point that President Obama was making is that the situations in Crimea and
Kosovo are not comparable. Kosovo's independence followed a humanitarian crisis, nearly
nine years of UN administration, and the failure of a long period of inclusive, internationally
sponsored negotiations on Kosovo's final status. Kosovo thus declared independence
only after other options were exhausted, and by the decision of a parliament that
had been assembled through a free and fair vote conducted under UN supervision. None
of these conditions apply in Crimea.</p>

To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government
of Israel concerning Palestinian deaths since the beginning of the peace negotiations
between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

<p>We have made frequent representations to the Israeli authorities about Israel Defence
Forces' use of live fire and appropriate force in both Gaza and the West Bank. Officials
from our Embassy in Tel Aviv most recently raised this issue with the Israeli Defence
Force on 11 March.</p>

To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they plan to take to protect the property
rights and security of Palestinians if peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian
Authority are extended.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential of
extended peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to effect change
in Israel's control of East Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley.

<p>The Government continues to analyse the full range of political and militant actors
in Gaza, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad. We have noted with concern Islamic Jihad's
growing involvement in attacks against Israel in 2014. We have called for the full
implementation of the ceasefire of November 2012 between Palestinian militant factions
and Israel.</p>

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in relation to tensions
between North and South Korea following North Korea's artillery shelling and detonation
near the border between those countries.

<p>On 31 March 2014, during a pre-planned and pre-advised live-fire exercise, a small
number of artillery shells from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea landed in
waters south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Yellow Sea. The Republic of Korea
military responded with its own artillery fire into waters on the northern side of
the NLL. There were no reported casualties.</p><p>We have been monitoring the situation
closely and are in contact with international partners. The situation is currently
calmer but tensions remain high. In a Written Ministerial Statement on 31 March, the
Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member
for East Devon (Mr Swire), urged both sides to exercise restraint and not to retaliate
further.</p>

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of North Korea's launch
of two mid-range missiles, its statement that it "would not rule out a new form of
nuclear test for bolstering up its nuclear deterrence" and China's decision to support
the United Nations Security Council's condemnation of those developments.

<p>We are extremely concerned that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)
has fired two medium range missiles into the Sea of Japan, in a further clear breach
of UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) 1718, 1874, 2087 and 2094. We are also
concerned by the DPRK's statement implying that they are considering further missile
or nuclear tests.</p><p>We urge the DPRK to comply with all of its obligations under
relevant UNSCRs and to refrain from any further provocations that would only further
destabilise the peninsula.</p><p>We welcome China's support in in the UN Security
Council condemning North Korean provocations, and we encourage all countries to call
on the DPRK to abide by its international obligations.</p>

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that officials
in the North Korean Workers' Party who were associated with Jang Song-thaek have been
sentenced to death; and what recent representations the United Kingdom Ambassador
to North Korea has made to the authorities there about the use of capital punishment,
torture and political prison camps.

<p>We are aware of media reports that 200 Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)
government officials believed to be close Jang Song-thaek, who was executed in December
2013, have been sentenced to death. Personnel changes within various organisations
suggest the purge of those related to Jang Song-thaek is continuing. However, the
lack of transparency means we are unable to confirm what has happened to those who
have been removed from their positions. The UK is appalled but not unsurprised by
reports of executions in DPRK. During meetings with DPRK authorities we regularly
raise concerns about the horrific human rights situation. Our Ambassador in Pyongyang
raised these concerns during a meeting with a Vice-Minister from the DPRK Ministry
of Foreign Affairs in January and we have raised them with other officials in March.</p>